Meaning & use
dehumanization
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Meanings
noununcountable
The act or process of making people seem less than human, often to justify treating them badly.
Grammar: No plural; used as a mass noun: dehumanization of a group.
Patterns
- dehumanization of someone
- the dehumanization of a group
- result in dehumanization
The dehumanization of the enemy is a common tactic in wartime propaganda.
Activists argue that the dehumanization of refugees leads to violence against them.
noununcountable
The state of being treated as if you lack human feelings or rights.
Grammar: Often used with 'a sense of' or 'experience of'.
Patterns
- experience dehumanization
- a sense of dehumanization
Many workers describe a sense of dehumanization when they are treated like machines.
The prisoners suffered years of dehumanization.
Common combinations
- systematic dehumanization
- The regime carried out systematic dehumanization of its opponents.
- dehumanization of women
- The film was criticized for its dehumanization of women.
- process of dehumanization
- The process of dehumanization often begins with language.
- dehumanization in war
- Dehumanization in war makes it easier for soldiers to kill.
Synonyms and how they differ
- objectification
- Focuses on treating someone as an object, especially in sexual or media contexts; dehumanization is broader and often about denying humanity altogether.
- brutalization
- Emphasizes making someone cruel or insensitive, while dehumanization is about denying someone's humanity.
Opposites
Word family
- dehumanize verb
- To make someone seem less than human.
- dehumanizing adjective
- Causing someone to be treated as less than human.
Commonly confused: dehumanization or humanization?
dehumanization vs humanization
Humanization means making something more human or humane; dehumanization is the opposite.
Practice
The propaganda was accused of ______ the enemy.
Choose one answer.
After the preposition 'of', we need a gerund (-ing form) to act as a noun; 'dehumanizing' is correct. 'Dehumanization' is a noun but cannot follow 'of' directly here because the phrase 'accused of' requires a verb form. 'Dehumanize' is the base verb and does not fit after 'of'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dehumanization”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.